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Happy Rakhi! But save me, pleads Gouri
GOURI CATCHES Wave-goers, ties rakhi and pleads ?save my kind? from the murderers. Gouri who? An activist of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a cow mask. And the venue was city?s multiplex?Wave East End Mall.
GOURI CATCHES Wave-goers, ties rakhi and pleads ‘save my kind’ from the murderers.
Gouri who? An activist of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a cow mask. And the venue was city’s multiplex—Wave East End Mall.
But, the biggest catch of Gouri was minister for food and civil supplies Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who had gone there to watch a movie. Stunned the minister said, “I can vouch we are implementing the rules at our gowshala. Anyone can come over and see.”
The activists kept telling all Gouri Rakshakas:
(a) Worldwide, more than 70 cows, pigs, sheep, buffaloes and other animals are killed every second.
(b) Animals ending up as belts and shoes suffer confinement, crowding and cruel treatment during transportation, unanaesthetised castration, tail docking and de-horning.
(c) At the municipal abattoirs, animals are made to watch their companions die while they wait for their turn, their eyes wide with tears and terror, their bodies shaking.
(d) Hot chilli pepper and tobacco are rubbed into their eyes; the tailbones are twisted and broken joint by joint. Some have their legs hacked off or are skinned while still alive.
PETA India co-ordinator (Campaigns and Legal Affairs) N G Jayasimha said, “Abuse of animals has prompted 40 international companies, including Liz Claiborne and Kenneth Cole to boycott Indian leather. PETA investigations reveal that animals are transported in such overcrowded and unhygienic conditions that their bones break and they suffocate enroute to the slaughterhouse.
Though not more than six animals are permitted to be transported in a truck, it is common to find 20-25 jostling for space.”
He added, “Our campaign is an appeal to shun leather since the leather industry, the seventh highest foreign exchange earner, is a national disgrace for no abattoir adheres to the laws of the land.”
Rohini Kamath, Vegan Campaigns co-ordinator, PETA, chipped in, “Raksha Bandhan notwithstanding, we plan to take up animals’ rights issue during other festivals which can link to animals that know and share the same pain.” When asked about public reaction, she said, “It is all about one’s perspective. Even if one animal benefits and a person realises our efforts, we achieve our goal.”
Visitors to the mall had mixed reactions to the ongoing campaign. While some tried to fathom what was going on and few moved on with their customary life, there were eager beavers who were more interested in getting themselves snapped by the shutterbugs.
The triumvirate of Natasha Gupta, Shweta Srivastava and Puja Varma, all dental students, were unanimous in saying that the cause was a good one and they would love to be associated with it. Mall manager Dheeraj Sharma said that such platform aided in spreading social messages like curbing atrocities towards animals, especially cows that are revered in Hindu scriptures.